Nicole Scherzinger has become the focus of speculation she's a Donald Trump supporter after leaving a comment on a social media post by Russell Brand.
Hours after polls closed across the U.S. on Tuesday night, Republican Trump was declared the winner of the presidential election following a hard-fought race that saw Kamala Harris step in just months ahead of Election Day after President Joe Biden dropped out of the race.
As Trump prepares for a second term in the White House, a slew of celebrities have taken to social media to share their views on the result.
British comedian Brand showed his support for Trump on November 6, when he shared an Instagram post in which he held a cap aloft that was styled to resemble the president-elect's "Make America Great Again" hats.
In place of the slogan that Trump has touted during his presidential runs, Brand's hat was emblazoned with the words, "Make Jesus First Again."
Another slide in the post featured a screenshot of a post by Brand on X, formerly Twitter, that read, "God Bless America."
Brand announced in April that he had been baptized into the Christian faith. In the months surrounding his revelation, the Arthur star had been under police investigation following allegations of rape and sexual assault. Brand has denied all allegations.
According to U.K. newspaper the Independent, singer Scherzinger responded to Brand's "Make Jesus First Again" post by asking: "Where do I get this hat!!!?" She rounded out her comment with a praying hands emoji and a red heart emoji.
It was been reported that Scherzinger's comment was deleted within 24 hours after many Instagram users responded negatively to her post. However, the comment has lived on in the form of a screenshot, which has been shared on X.
Time Out New York theater editor and critic Adam Feldman shared a screenshot of Scherzinger's comment on the platform, alongside the caption: "Well the Best Actress Tony race just got a little less competitive."
"It's hard to think of a worse look for a Broadway leading lady than appearing to simultaneously support Donald Trump, Christian hegemony and Russell Brand," Feldman added in a follow-up post."
"How to lose a Tony in under 30 characters," read another comment, in apparent reference to Scherzinger's critically-acclaimed turn in the Broadway revival of Sunset Boulevard, for which she this year won a Laurence Olivier Award in London.
There is currently no record of Scherzinger expressing public support for any of the candidates in the recently concluded race for the White House.
Newsweek has contacted a representative of Scherzinger via email for comment.
Looking at Scherzinger's comment from a different angle, one X user asked: "Is it possible she's just a Jesus believer? Really hoping that's the case."
"If so, she picked an extremely unfortunate way to express that," Feldman responded.
In a 2019 interview with U.K newspaper The Guardian, Hawaiian-born Scherzinger said that she was raised Catholic during her childhood in Louisville, Kentucky. The publication reported at the time that she still attended church at least twice a week, doing so in person or remotely online.
"I was very conservative. I had really strong religious beliefs. I just wanted to make my mother proud," Scherzinger said.
Explaining how her views clashed with her early days of performing with the Pussycat Dolls in skimpy ensembles, she said that "it was a massive hump for me to get over" as she settled into her role as a singer and dancer.
Scherzinger served as a judge on both the U.S. and U.K. version of The X Factor after she first found success in the girl group Eden's Crush, which was formed on the reality show Popstars, and as a member of popular group the Pussycat Dolls. She has also released two studio albums as a solo artist and more recently appeared as a judge on Fox's The Masked Singer.
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